Vandal defaces 3,500-year-old Egyptian tomb

Hong Kong -- Parents of a 15-year-old Chinese tourist have apologized after the teenager defaced a stone sculpture in an ancient Egyptian temple with graffiti.

The act drew ire in both Egypt and China -- generating a massive online backlash amongst China's unforgiving netizens.

The vandal carved 'Ding Jinhao was here' in Chinese in the 3,500 year old Luxor Temple.

The graffiti was etched across the torso of the figure in the sculpture. Courtesy CNN.

This was photographed by an embarrassed Chinese traveler and shared on weibo, China's micro-blogging site on May 24.

"The saddest moment in Egypt. I'm so embarrassed that I want to hide myself. I said to the Egyptian tour guide,'I'm really sorry,'" that traveler wrote on the original weibo post.

"We want to wipe off the marking with a towel. But we can't use water since it is a 3,500 relic."

It didn't take long -- actually, just a day -- before outraged netizens tracked down Ding in Nanjing.

Slammed online and exposed further in the mainstream, Ding's parents quickly contacted media outlets.

"We want to apologize to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China," Ding's mother said in a China Daily report.

Ding's parents said they shouldered the responsibility of what their son did, adding he had learned his lesson.

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